Our litigators have been on the cutting edge of technology and intellectual property law for more than 130 years. Ropes & Gray has been ranked as a leading IP practice in the United States in surveys conducted by Chambers and Partners. Many of our IP litigation partners are listed in The Best Lawyers In America, and several are fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers. We've litigated over 400 patent cases in the last decade alone, which translates to experience no other firm can match.

Our lawyers are authorities in the field. Patent Law and Practice, written for the federal judicial center by Partners Herb Schwartz (NY; retired) and Bob Goldman (Silicon Valley), has been cited by more than 80 courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court in its landmark Markman decision.

Bill McCabe, IP Litigation Practice Group Leader, and Jim Haley recently authored a chapter on U.S. patent litigation, issues and strategies, with an emphasis on federal courts and the ITC known as "United States," in International Patent Litigation: Developing an Effective Strategy.

Sona De and Hiro Hagiwara are two of our IP litigation partners.

Our early clients were pioneers named Edison and the Wright Brothers. Today, we represent household names like Motorola and Oscar de la Renta, and multinationals like LG Electronics. We also represent individual inventors and start-ups — tomorrow's leaders in the fields of semiconductors, computers, telecommunications, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

After having successfully represented Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell in patent cases involving the light bulb and telephone, Frederick Fish persuaded the trial and appellate courts that the Wright Brothers' 1906 patent on a "Flying Machine" was valid and infringed.

Sasha Rao (New York University School of Law '96) is an IP litigation partner in our Silicon Valley office.

What have we done lately?

• Defended Becton Dickinson and BD Nova in an infringement case involving four patents relating to test strips that diabetic patients use to monitor their blood glucose levels. In a combination of bench and jury trials, we defeated all four asserted patents on grounds including invalidity, non-infringement, and unenforceability for inequitable conduct. In addition, the Court found the case to be exceptional and awarded attorneys' fees to our clients. The decision was affirmed by The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
  
  
• Obtained jury verdict of unjust enrichment and unfair business practices relating to surgical treatment of macular degeneration in Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary v. QLT Phototherapeutics, Inc., resulting in a damages award of a 3.01% royalty on more than $2 billion sales and attorneys' fees for MEEI. In January 2009, the First Circuit affirmed the verdict for more than $125 million.
  
  
• Obtained summary judgment in favor of our client, RouteOne, on two of the three patents in a suit related to a web-based computer system that receives automotive credit applications submitted by dealers on behalf of automobile purchasers. We successfully obtained summary judgment that all asserted claims of the final patent were invalid in view of the Federal Circuit's Bilski decision.
  
  
• Defended our client, Advanced Micro Devices, in a suit in Eastern Texas relating to core logic chipsets used in personal computers. Case settled favorably after a five-day jury trial in February 2010.
  



The Advanced Micro Devices team, Reeta Whitney (Santa Clara University School of Law '02), Victor Hsue (Santa Clara University School of Law '06), Rebecca Wight (University of Texas School of Law '07), and Joshua Hudner (Yale Law School '08)



• Obtained $250 million settlement for Transmeta in patent infringement case against Intel relating to eleven patents on various computer processor power-saving and architectural technologies. Cited as on of three "big cases" by IP Law & Business in 2006.
  


• Persuaded a three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit to reconsider and vacate its prior decision against our client Purdue Pharma in a high-profile pharmaceutical case involving a drug used to treat cancer patients.
  



Many of our cases are staffed across offices. Linda Rost (Standford Law School '00), Tom Wang (Stanford Law School '03), Kelly Baxter (Santa Clara University School of Law '04), and Adam Goldman (Standford Law School '06), worked closely with lawyers in our New York office on Purdue Pharma. To read about Kelly's experience with this case, click here.



• Represent LG Electronics in a litigation in which Wi-LAN asserts two patents in a field of wireless communications against LGE and other mobile phone manufacturers. We also represent LG Electronics in a patent litigation case related to storage device technology.
  


• Represented PAETEC in a suit in which Sprint asserted that our client infringed six of Sprint's patents relating to VoIP. The parties exchanged Markman briefs, but agreed to settlement on terms very favorable to PAETEC and its related companies shortly before the claim construction hearing, allowing the PAETEC companies to continue providing Voice-over-IP (VoIP) services.
  


• Won a jury verdict that our client JVL's touch screens do not infringe three patents relating to game console hardware and software.
  
  

The Oscar de la Renta Associate Trial team, Mariel Goetz (Harvard Law School '08) and Becca Schendel Norris (Washington University School of Law '07).



• Represented the international fashion house Oscar de la Renta, Ltd. ("ODLR") in a set of arbitration and judicial proceedings concerning disputes arising under a global trademark license agreement for ODLR-brand fragrances and cosmetics.  Our client prevailed, obtaining both termination of the license and an award of damages for certain breaches. 

What kind of academic background do I need to be an IP litigator at Ropes & Gray?
It depends on what area of IP you want to practice in. Although a technical background is strongly preferred for patent litigation, it is not necessary. Some of our lawyers have become very successful trial lawyers without such a background. Other areas, such as trademark and copyright litigation, usually do not require a technical background.